Holes in the Floor of Heaven
by Alexis Steele
Summary: What makes rain showers so fascinating to the Skywalker twins? Only they know the answer.


**Title: **Holes in the Floor of Heaven

**Author: **Alexis Steele

**Timeframe: **Intertrilogy-COPL

**Characters: **Leia, Luke, Padmé (kinda-sorta)

**Genre: **song-fic

**Keywords: **_"There's holes in the floor of Heaven, and she's watching over you and me."_

**Summary: **Rainshowers mean something special to the Skywalker twins**  
**

**Notes: **This is my first fic in the Star Wars fandom, as well as my first songfic, so I hope everyone enjoys it. As always, Star Wars – and all of its wonderful characters – don't belong to me (sadly), but to the Great Flanneled One himself, George Lucas. And the song doesn't belong to me either; instead it's credited to Collin Raye. As per rules, all the lyrics have been removed, but I still think it's a great fic without them.

* * *

Since the time she'd been able to walk on her own two feet, little Leia Organa loved to play in the rain. Not the torrential downpours that sometimes battered Alderaan's capital, but the gentle sprinklings that came during the spring and summer months. No one within the Organa household or staff could explain their princess' fascination with rain until the passing of Queen Breha shortly before Leia's sixth naming day. 

Once again a gentle rained glistened on the meadows of Aldera, and the newly-widowed Viceroy looked out his office window to find his daughter sitting out by her mother's gravesite in the royal gardens with a forlorn look on her face. Concerned for Leia's health, Bail grabbed a spare cloak and made his way out to the gardens. As he inched closer to his daughter's side, Bail could see Leia's mood brighten suddenly, then she chirped, "Thank you mommy!"

"Leia, child," Bail spoke softly as he wrapped the cloak around her small shoulder, lest he frighten her, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, papa, everything's okay now," Leia said.

"What about earlier? You looked so sad as I was walking out here?"

"I was hoping I could feel momma in the rain, like I can with my real mommy sometimes," Leia explained.

Bail gulped. "Your… real mommy?"

Leia nodded innocently. "Uh-huh, sometimes, when it's raining lightly like this, it means mommy's sad, so I come outside to play with her to cheer her up."

Bail closed his eyes. For all that he loved his daughter, there were moments – like now – when he was painfully reminded that Leia wasn't his biological daughter. He didn't know whether to be relieved, or jealous, of the fact that Padmé still somehow managed to retain a semblance of contact with her daughter, even after her death.

A tug on his shirt sleeve pulled Bail away from his thoughts. "Papa, mommy says that momma doesn't want you to be sad anymore. That she will keep momma safe until we can be with momma again," Leia said, paused for a few moments, then added, "And mommy also says thank you for taking care of me, when she couldn't."

All thoughts of jealousy fled from Bail's heart at that moment. "Oh Leia," he sobbed as he pulled Leia into a fierce hug, and smiled as the rain trickled off, "What would I ever do without you? Tell you what, let's head on inside and I'll make you some hot chocolate. You can sit on the sofa in my office until it's time for lunch, all right?"

"Yay!" Leia chirped as she brushed the grass from her dress skirts and began tugging on her father's hand. "Come on, papa!"

As father and daughter made their way back to the palace, Bail whispered to the wind, "You're welcome, Padmé."

* * *

Ten Years Later 

"And in Senate news, Alderaan recently held elections to replace departing senator, Bail Organa, and in a landslide victory, his successor shall be none other than his sixteen year old daughter, Princess Leia Organa," the Holonet reporter announced to the masses, "and now, we take you to our correspondent on Alderaan, where the senator-elect will be shortly making her victory speech."

The holofeed signal transferred to Alderaan where Leia was standing on an outdoor podium, surrounded by her supporters.

"People of Alderaan, I thank you for trust and confidence that you place upon me, that I will serve the best interests of Alderaan in the Imperial Senate. Though I may be young, I vow…"

Leia's speech was cut off when she felt a drop of water fall directly onto her nose, followed by another, and then another. Soon, a light rain shower was soaking the bystanders below the podium. From his vantage point on the steps into the palace, Bail Organa watched as his daughter twirled around on the podium and giggled, more carefree, as a normal teenager should be, than he'd seen her since she'd announced her plans to succeed her father as Alderaan's senator. As the crowd darted for cover, Bail smiled knowingly and turned to head inside the palace.

* * *

Three years later 

"Leia," the voice of the savior of the Rebel Alliance called out as he rounded the corner where Leia was standing on the rear steps of the Massassi Temple on Yavin 4, "we're almost ready to depart."

"I know, Luke," Leia replied as she turned to him with a genuine smile on her face. _'Much more natural than the forced grin he'd seen since the medal ceremony two days ago,_' Luke thought. "I just needed to get away for awhile."

"I understand," Luke commiserated as he came to her side, "Care to share your thoughts to a sympathetic ear?"

Leia shrugged him off. "You'll just think it's stupid."

"No, I won't, promise," Luke vowed, and despite only knowing him for a week, Leia believed him.

"I was hoping it would rain," Leia confessed.

"Why would that be stupid?" Luke asked, genuinely confused.

"It's the reason behind it," Leia sighed, then continued, "When I was a little girl, I swore I could sometimes feel my mother through the rain, like the rain was her tears. I was hoping she'd come and comfort me, as she did when my other mother died."

"Other mother?"

"Yes," Leia answered, "See, I was adopted by the Organas. My birth mother died when I was just a baby, and the Organas took me in as their daughter. My foster mother died when I was five, and one day, I was visiting her resting place, and it started to rain. It was my birth mother, comforting me and saying that she'd stay with my foster mother until father and I joined her. Strange, no?"

Luke smiled. "Not at all. In fact, I think it's wonderful."

Leia smiled back. "Thanks Luke. I needed that." She paused. "You know, you're only the second person in my life I've told that to."

"Glad I could help, and hey, look," Luke answered, then pointed out at the horizon, "I think she heard you. Come on."

Sure enough, a gentle rain began pelting the jungle canopy. As she and Luke stood out in the rain that day, Leia couldn't help but think that not only were her mother's tears comforting her, but embracing Luke as well. Leia smiled.

* * *

Four years later 

After the celebrations with the Ewoks and fighter pilots dwindled down following the Battle of Endor, Leia found herself unable to sleep, despite the enticing 'pillow' at her side. Instead, Leia left her hut and made her way towards the presence that has been shining in the back of her mind since the previous evening, and, if she was honest with herself, since a chance meeting amidst the first Death Star's prison cell.

'_Brother,' _Leia smiled to herself. _'Her twin. The one who would be closest to her for the rest of her life, with the possible exception of her husband… but that was a long ways off yet.'_

Just as the thought of being Luke's twin overjoyed her, the thought of being Vader's daughter… _'Better to not go there, just yet,' _Leia decided.

Leia finally found her brother standing in the exact same spot he was the previous evening when he revealed their relationship to each other, staring out blankly at the forest floor.

"Credit for your thoughts?" Leia asked gently as she sidled up to him.

"Leia, can you teach me how to hear and feel someone in the rain?" Luke requested.

"Luke, it was never something I had to learn, it just came to me," Leia explained.

"So mother only ever came to you, then?" Luke deduced.

"I wouldn't say that, Luke," Leia immediately rebuked him. "Maybe you just never learned to feel the signs."

"She must think I'm a horrible son. All my life, all my spare thoughts and dreams were about father and…" he trailed off when he noticed Leia's wince, though he knew it was an involuntary reflex on her part.

"Luke, I…" Leia was stunned speechless, unsure of how to comfort her twin.

Just then, despite the massive copse of trees above them, a light spray of rain descended upon them. Leia smiled. "Close your eyes, Luke." He obeyed her by stretching out with the Force for a few moments. "Tell me what you feel around you."

"Exhaustion…" he began, "happiness… joy… and… sorrow," he relayed.

"All right, now direct your thoughts towards the rain. Do you feel anything there?"

"I feel… warmth… love… regret… and gratitude. Immense gratitude."

"That's mother, Luke. Until today, I'd only ever felt the first three," Leia explained. "You brought about the last."

Luke shook his head. "No, Leia, **we** brought it out, together."

Leia smiled. "That's right, together. Now, come on, let's get back to the camp before Han thinks we ran away on him."

Luke's laughter pealed out into the night air.

* * *

Four years later 

"You owe me a dance, _little _brother," Leia challenged as she walked up to Luke at the wedding party's table in the outdoor gardens of the former Imperial Palace.

"So I do, _little_ sister," Luke returned with a smile as he rose from the chair and led her out onto the makeshift dance floor. "And you know the hovercab taking me to the Alder_een_ian embassy wasn't my fault."

Leia smirked. "I know, but how often do I get to tease a Jedi Knight?"

"A lot more often than the public will ever know about," Luke countered.

"Shut up and dance, Luke," Leia ordered playfully.

"As her highness wishes," Luke bowed mockingly.

As a slow ballad chimed out from the musicians in the corner, brother and sister took their spin around the dance floor.

"Have I told you yet that you look stunning in that dress?" Luke asked during a decrescendo in the music.

"A few times, yes, but a girl can always use more compliments," Leia teased.

Luke smiled. "Well, far be it from me to disappoint the bride on her wedding day."

"You could never disappoint me, Luke," Leia reassured him.

"I wouldn't be to sure about that," Luke said suddenly, sending a brief shudder down Leia's spine that she quickly shook off.

"Luke…" Whatever Leia intended on saying was interrupted as, for the first time since anyone could recall on Coruscant, the environmental controls of the planet malfunctioned, and a light rain began to fall. As the guests and caterers scrambled to reach shelter, the twins burst out into laughter at the moment.

"Looks like she managed to make her presence known today, after all," Luke quipped.

"I was beginning to think I'd be proven wrong, for once," Leia replied.

* * *

For the remainder of their lives, the Skywalker twins always felt partial to rain showers. They sometimes appeared at happy events in their lives, such as the birth of their children, Luke's establishing the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, and Luke's wedding, as well as the sad, such as at the funerals for Chewbacca and Anakin Solo. Even after the twins found out about Padmé's identity, and of her life and death, Luke and Leia never revealed to their families their fascination with rain showers. In Luke's case, most attributed it to spending the first nineteen years of his life on a desert planet, and Leia, well, she never really made it a public spectacle, so it was never talked about on the holoshills. 

Instead, they made it something they could share… together.


End file.
